Judd Apatow has probably had at least a role to play in most of your favorite recent comedies, but while he's brilliant at guiding talent and letting them shine in their own movies, he's equally compelling, if not more so, as a writer and director himself.

Apatow is currently in the midst of preparing his fourth directorial feature, and while it's more or less a given that many of the faces from his steady stable of actors are going to have roles to play here, I don't think anyone could have been prepared for this: his next movie is a "Knocked Up" spin-off.

"It is neither [a prequel or a sequel]," Apatow told HitFix about his next movie. "It is just a story from Pete and Debbie's current life."

"People really responded to their characters and problems. I felt like there was a lot of ground I could explore with them, so we'll be shooting in July and will come out the following June," he added. "There are some fun details yet to reveal but I will let them come out slowly. It's more fun that way."

There's little doubt that the Pete-and-Debbie spinoff can be anything but a good thing. Rudd is an unstoppable source of comedy all by himself, but especially when paired with Apatow. Same goes for Mann, but her director husband knows how to get the very best from her. Needless to say, we're more than intrigued by Apatow's latest.

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